Writers & Books has announced that The Buffalo Soldier by Chris Bohjalian is the 2007 selection for “If All of Rochester Read the Same Book…”.
Publishers Weekly summarizes The Buffalo Soldier:
The capricious ways of nature frame this eighth novel by the popular Bohjalian (Midwives; Trans-Sister Radio). Several years after the devastating loss of their nine-year-old twin daughters in a flood, Vermont residents Laura and Terry Sheldon decide to adopt a child. When a state agency grants them a taciturn 10-year-old African-American boy on a foster-parent trial basis, they acquiesce, albeit with some reluctance. The trial is no less unsettling for the child, Alfred, who has already endured separations and is aware of his solitary status in the small, white town. What will save the boy, and lend poignancy to the novel, is a growing friendship with an elderly neighbor, Paul, a retired teacher, who accepts him without preconditions. He gives the boy a book about a post-Civil War western black cavalry unit, the Buffalo Soldiers, and a cap with a picture of their buffalo symbol and then invites the boy to learn to ride his horse. Alfred, moved by the book, responds to Paul and begins to break out of his isolation.
Join Writers and Books, the Campus Activities Board, the LeRoy V. Good Library (Brighton campus), the American Association for Women in Community Colleges (AAWCC), and the English/Philosophy Department for a host of activities that will surround the 2007 book choice, culminating in the author’s visit to our campus.
A Buffalo Soldier Re-enactment: Wednesday, February 28, 2007 - MCC Theater; College Hour
Book Discussion for Faculty/Staff: Wednesday, February 7 and Wednesday March 7, 2007 – LeRoy V. Good Library; College Hour (a two-part series due to the book’s length)
Duffle Bag/Book Bag Drive: March 12-16, 2007; coordinated by the AAWCC
Author Visit: Friday, March 16, 2007 – Warshof Conference Center (Monroe A and B); College Hour
Stay tuned for additional information and updates on more exciting events being planned around this year’s “If All of Rochester Read the Same Book…” selection. For any additional information, contact Liz Pierce at x3303 or <mailto:epierce@monroecc.edu>.
Elizabeth Pierce
English/Philosophy Department
11/30/2006 |